OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A gun-rights rally drew about 50 people, mostly armed, to the steps of the Capitol on Saturday morning for a demonstration they hoped would end with their arrest. To raise money for bail, some protesters hawked caps with "Fight Tyranny — Shoot Back" printed on them and sold out.

The plan was to walk into the Capitol after a few speeches and carry guns into the Legislature's viewing gallery, in defiance of rule changes made in January that banned the open carry of firearms there. However, the Washington State Patrol kept the gallery doors locked after the building opened to the public at 11 a.m. The crowd, including two state legislators, walked through the marble hallways, with some lining up to knock on the doors to the House gallery and Gov. Jay Inslee's office.

No one was arrested, and the State Patrol reported no disturbances. The protesters went instead to the closed gate of the governor's mansion and prayed.

"What's the world coming to when there are people who want to break the law and they won't let you do it?" said Dave Grenier, 58, of Tumwater, as his fellow pro-gun demonstrators began to file out of the Capitol.

Their complaints against state government stem from the 2014 passage of Initiative 594 by voters statewide. It imposed new background-check requirements on several types of gun transfers, including purchases and loans, and opponents say the new law infringes on firearm rights guaranteed in the state and federal constitutions.

After protest rallies at the Capitol in December and January, leaders of the House and Senate prohibited the open carrying of firearms into the Legislature's viewing galleries. In the January rally, one protester among the dozen or so who carried guns into the House gallery was rebuked by the State Patrol for how he was holding his gun, and the ban was instituted days later.

Saturday morning's rally began before the Capitol opened to the public at 11 a.m. A few visitors waiting for guided tours of the legislative building mingled with the gun-rights advocates who clustered in the portico facing Washington's Temple of Justice to get out of the rain.

State Reps. Elizabeth Scott and Matt Shea addressed the crowd. Shea, R-Spokane Valley, gave a fiery speech that included a list of more than 20 grievances against the government, including militarization of police, high taxes, surveillance programs, Sharia law and restrictions on guns. Scott, R-Monroe, opened her coat to show the crowd her pistol.

"I carry at least one gun every day," Scott said, "because a cop is too heavy and a guard is too heavy."

For Eric Devenny, 19, an apprentice mechanic from Bremerton, the rally was his first trip to the Capitol. He wore an AKS-74, a variation of a Russian assault rifle, in a sling on his back as he walked with the group into the legislative building and out to the governor's mansion gate and said he'll return for another protest.

"It's not gonna stop, and we won't let up," Devenny said.

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Europeans Laugh as Lavrov Talks Ukraine
FEB 7, 2015 10:00 PM EST
By Josh Rogin

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond pauses as he speaks during a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (not pictured) in Helsinki, January 8, 2015. CREDIT: REUTERS/MARKKU ULANDER/LEHTIKUVA

* Britain says Putin's actions in Ukraine 'outrageous'

* Says Putin acting like a 'mid 20th century tyrant'

* Thinks Ukraine can't beat Russian army, urges deal

* Rejects idea it's a 'diplomatic irrelevance' on Ukraine (Adds quotes, details)

By Andrew Osborn

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Britain accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday of acting like a "tyrant" over Ukraine, but said Kiev's forces could not defeat Russia's army on the battlefield and that only a political solution could end the bloodshed.

The comments, by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, were his toughest yet on Russia and came after he rejected a suggestion that Britain had become an "irrelevance" because it wasn't directly involved in talks with Putin to end the Ukraine crisis.

"Ukrainians can't beat the Russian army, that's not a practical proposition. There has to be a political solution," Hammond told Sky News.

"This man (Putin) has sent troops across an international border and occupied another country's territory in the 21st century acting like some mid-20th century tyrant. Civilised nations do not behave like that," he said.

Russia denies Western and Ukrainian accusations it is supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine by sending regular troops and weapons into the region.

Hammond's comments came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said sending arms to help Ukraine combat the separatists would not solve the crisis, drawing sharp rebukes from U.S. politicians.

Hammond said Britain wasn't planning to arm Kiev's forces but spoke out strongly in favour of renewing European Union economic sanctions on Russia and possibly escalating them.

"This is one of the last opportunities that Russia will have to avoid yet further significant damage to its economy that is bound to happen if the intransigence of Vladimir Putin forces the rest of the world to increase and tighten the sanctions," Hammond said of the latest push for a peace deal.

Combined with a steep fall in global oil prices that Hammond said was having a "catastrophic" impact on the Russian economy, the sanctions would force Putin to alter course, he predicted.

"If your economy is cratering you cannot support the kind of foreign adventures that Putin is undertaking. You cannot support the kind of security state structure that he has generated and that he needs to keep him there," he said.

"He will have to trim his behaviour to reflect the decline in the Russian economy."

Hammond also said Russia must withdraw from Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine last March.

Britain was incensed last month after two Russian "Bear" long-range bombers flew over the English Channel, forcing it to reroute civil aircraft. It later summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the conflict erupted there last April.

(Editing by Gareth Jones and Stephen Powell)

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon said Sunday that $25 million worth of weapons and ammunition have arrived in Beirut, the latest American assistance to Lebanon's army as it fights Islamic extremists along the border with Syria.

Ambassador David Hale said the equipment includes more than 70 M198 howitzers and over 26 million rounds of ammunition and artillery "of all shapes and sizes, including heavy artillery."

Islamic extremists have launched several attacks on Lebanese troops over the past months in areas near the Syrian border, killing and wounding scores of troops. The most serious attack occurred in August, when members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State group captured two dozen Lebanese soldiers. They have killed four of them and still hold the rest.

Lebanese and American officials attended a handover ceremony Sunday at Beirut's port.

"We are very proud of this and this is top-of-the-line equipment. This is the best that there is in the marketplace. It's what our soldiers use," Hale said. "I know that in a matter of days it's going to be what your brave soldiers are using in the battle to defeat terrorism and extremism that is pouring across the border from Syria."

Hale told reporters that Lebanon has become the fifth-largest recipient of U.S. foreign military assistance. He added that weapons worth more than $100 million were given to Lebanon last year and over a $1 billion worth in the last eight years.

He said the U.S. help to Lebanon will continue "until the job is done."

The Lebanese military is generally seen as a unifying force in Lebanon, and draws its ranks from all of the country's sects — Sunni and Shiite Muslim, Christian and Druze. But the armed forces have struggled to contain the escalating violence in the country.

This is the latest aid promised to Lebanon. In November, France and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement for Paris to provide the Lebanese army with $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Riyadh. The first shipment of those weapons is expected to arrive in April.